You Will Not Touch My Daughter
by Miako-sama
Summary: Rin is becoming a young lady and boys are starting to notice. What is a daddy to do? rated for mild violence. RinxOC
1. Chapter 1

I do not own Any InuYasha characters, I merely borrow then for my own demented purposes, so don't sue me!

Sesshomaru walked along the sun-lit trail as silent as ever. He was listeneing to the sounds behind him. The sounds of grass and dirt under his dragons claws. The frustrated squawking of his imp. And of course the young woman humming on the dragon's back, his little Rin.

They came across a wide meadow with a stream running through. It was the best camping spot for miles and the sun was already low on the horizon. The great deamon stopped and Jaken, not paying attention, ran into his leg and recieved a stern kick for his carelessness.

"Are we stopping for the night Daddy?" The girl asked slipping from Ah Un's back and trotting up beside the deamon

"Yes Rin." He replied glancing over his shoulder at the girl who had been calling him daddy since she was nine. She had been tossing and turning hir sleep, fight a horrible night mare. When she had woken up screaming for her daddy Sesshomaru had been at her side. She had called him Daddy and buried her face in the fur on his shoulder, then realizing what she had called him, she had pulled away and looked up in to his face. His lips twitched and a mix of love and surprise had shone in his eyes. He had been Daddy ever since.

She smiled and quickly found herself some wild vegitables and caught a fish in the stream while Jaken made a fire. After eating she had decided to take advantage of the last of the light by picking flowers.

Sesshomaru watched her. It seemed that just yesterday he had found the 7 year old dead in the forest and restored her to life. Now she was 14 and she was beautiful.

His arm was across his lap and his hand rested lightly on the hilt of a sword, the third one. He had Totosia forge it after his sensitive ears had over heard some young men makeing off color comments about his daughter while they passed a villiage. He had summoned all his will power to ignore their jokes and comments, but if any had come near they would not have lived to regret it.

Sesshomaru looked down at his swords. Tokijin was far to powerful to be used against a human and Tenseiga, the sword of life, could not harm a human. That is why Totosia had been asked to forge this third one from Sesshomaru's own fang. When Rin had first seen it she commented that it shined like a star and the sword had promptly been named Hoshi.

Sesshomaru almost cringed. Hoshi, a girl's name. Why had he let the child name it? Because he was a hopeless fool, just like his father before him. Then again why not? The sword had been forged to protect a girl, so why not a girl's name?

As he sat thinking his little Rin return to his side. She presented the best of the flowers to him as a gift, it was such a common thing between them it was almost an inside joke. She picked the best of the rest to weave into her long raven locks. Then they sat and looked at the stars, niether speaking much.

Finally Rin lay back and stretched out. "I love you Daddy." She mumbled as sleep over took her. Sesshomaru felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth as he watched the girl sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

I Do not own Inuyasha or any of the Inuyasha characters But I kenji is MINE! Hehehe, I am very possessive about my characters. and I know I promised you guys mild violence and romance. Don't worry, it's coming, just not quiet yet. Bet ya'll can see where this is going ;)

"Rin, stay here." That had been the last thing Sesshomaru had said to her that morning before he left. Rin had done as her father told her and not asked where he was going. He did that sometimes so she was use to it.

Being use to it did not stop her from getting bored. She had picked flowers and woven them into her hair and Ah Un manes. Then she had tried to skip stones on the surface of a small puddle that was fed by the creek. Of course there wasn't enough room for that activity to hold her attention. So now she sat near the puddle humming to herself. She was so bored. Little did she know some one else was having the same problem not far away.

Kenji sighed and shifted against the tree he sat under. The young warrior was bored out of his mind. He looked over at his brother and his father. His father was dozing under another tree, his bother was meditating. Actually it looked to Kenji as though her brother were just napping and not doing anything productive, but who was he to argue with him?

He wanted to do something but would not interupt his father to suggest they get moving. His father was an old man, he needed his rest. And it had taken much pestering to get the old man to stop for a while. His father had a hard time accepting the limitations of his ageing body.

Finally Kenji could stand no more. He stood quickly and picked up his helmet and walked over to his horse. "Father, I ask your permission to scout ahead. We might be wise to know what we can expect to run into ahead."

His father cracked open one eye and regarded his younger son. The boy was barely a man, only 15. He was sometimes headstrong and impulsive. He knew the boy's energy would not allow him to rest comfortably. It was one of the secret reasons he tried not to rest unless he had to. He worried what kind of trouble his son would get into. But he had to rest and the boy had to be doing something.

"Just come back in one piece." He muttered to the anxious teenager.

"Yes father." The boy replied with a low bow. Then he mounted his steed and was gone.

"Father, are you sure it was wise to let him go off alone?" The older boy asked turning to the old man.

"We have seen no other samuria nor any deamons for many days now. How much trouble could he get into?"

"Father, you do realize this is Kenji we are talking about?"


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Sesshy, Rin-chan, or Jaken. If I did Jaken would get hurt so much more often. C'mon, what's more fun than beating up a poor, annoying toad thing? And sorry about my spelling, no spell check. I looked at every reddish crayon in my box but couldn't find the correct spelling of fushia.

Kenji rode at a leisurly pace along the narrow game trail. He had seen nothing of intrest since leaving his father. Truth be known none of them had seen anything of interest since they had passed a small villiage two weeks ago.

Kenji suddenly halted his horse. "Hannako, do you hear something?" He asked the flicking ears of the chestnut mare. He strained his mortal ears to hear. Music? No, singing.

But who would be singing out in this desolate wilderness? It sounded like a woman. He dismounted and sneaked toward the sound. He had left Hannako untied incase he had to call her for a quick get away. She would not wander away, she was a good horse.

Kenji peeked through thick foliage into a clearing and his breath caught in his throat. A maiden sat amonst the flowers singing to herself. She had long raven black hair, skin like fine porcelain, and deep brown eyes that sparkled like stars. She was dressed in a light pink kimono with fushia and violet flowers and a fushia obi and had tucked a bright red blossom behind her ear.

To kenji's surprise she appeared to be unescorted. He saw no man there to defend the young maiden. Jaken had fallen asleep on the otherside of a large boulder and thus could not be seen.

He was both alarmed and outraged. Where the hell was her father, her husband,or a brother? True he had not seen any other men or youkai but these were wild lands. Anything could happen to an unguarded woman! One could never know when bandits or other undesirable characters may come along. And a woman that beautiful with no man to guard her...

Or perhaps she was a Youkai. After all, such a beauty could not truely be human, could she? That would explain why she looked so calm. Perhaps all of this was actually a trap!

'A trap? Honestly Kenji!' He scolded himself. 'A trap for whom? Who could she be hunting in so isolated a location, no one around for miles.'

He had not failed to notice the dragon sitting so close. Perhaps she was it's prisoner. But she did not appear frightened. Was the dragon a friend? A pet? Her guardian? What would happen if her made his presence known it it? What would happen if the dragon caught him sneaking around in the bushes!

Ok, he made his desision. He stood and strode out into the clearing. "Excuse me, My Lady"  
The lady looked up at him and gasped. Then she had done what he had begun to expect, she scrambled to her feet and ran to the dragon. One of it's heads nuzzled Rin's cheek reassuringly while the other watched Kenji like a hawk.

Kenji knew he had to do something to show his intentions were peaceful. He took off his helmet so that she could see his face. He had midnight black hair that fell to his shoulders. His face looked gentle and his light brown eyes looked carefree and fun.

"My Lady, I mean you no harm. I am sorry that I have startled you, I wish only to speak with you." He bowed low before her. "My name is Kenji Yomato..."

The boy had been about to say more but a small green something had interupted him. "What? Human be gone!" Jaken screamed jumping up and running between Kenji and Rin with speed that seemed unbelievable for such small legs.

Kenji stared down at the little deamon. "What on Earth..." Kenji knelt down to get a better look at the dimunitive, ranting figure before him. "Are you a frog or a toad? But you have a beak, I have seen neither frogs nor toads with beaks... Perhaps you are some kind of turtle?"

Rin clapped and hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

Jaken stared at Kenji for a moment then sputtered and continued ranting. "Ignorant human, You should be begging me to spare your life right now..."

"Jaken..." Rin warned in a calculated tone learned from her daddy. Her soft feminine voice however did not have the same power as the low growling voice of Sesshomaru. Her warning went unheard and the little imp continued to threatened an obviously unafraid young warrior.

"Jaken, stop this at once!" Rin tried once more. Still her voice did not have an impact on the imp. Either that or her was ignoring her. She was not Sesshomaru after all, what harm could she do?

Jaken was so into his little triade that he didn't even notice Kenji pick up a nearby stick, that is untill the boy poke him curiously with it. Rin once more had to stifle her laughter and Jaken only became angrier. 

"Why you!" Jaken screeched. He was just about to use the Staff of Two Heads against Kenji when a dainty foot came down on his head and rendered him unconcious.

Kenji's eyes widened and he looked up at the fair maiden who now stood on the toads head. Then he laughed out load and Rin didn't bother to hide her giggle. The adorable sound of it made Kenji laugh even more, which caused Rin to laugh out loud.

She sat down beside Kenji whose eyes still sparkled with laughter. "Kenji was it? My name is Rin. I must appologize for Jaken's rude behavior. I assure you he will be punished for it later." And punished again for insubordination.

"Nah, no problem, I'm sure he was only tring to protect you. You can't be to careful in these times. He must care for you a lot."

"Actually he was probably afraid Daddy would find out he was sleeping on the job." Rin replied. "Which, of course, he just might."

Jaken snored loudly and scratched his butt as he rolled over. Rin rolled her eyes and stood up. She picked up Ah Un's reigns and held out a hand to Kenji. "Come on, lets go talk by the water where it's quieter." 


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own Any thing. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Yay, the chapter ends with Jaken bashing!

Sesshomaru almost frowned at the sents. A human and a horse. A male human most likely. His pace quickened slightly, with a male human in the area he wanted to return to Rin and Jaken quickly.

To his terror the smells grew stronger as he approached thier camp. Oh Kami, if anything happened to them... Esspecially his little girl...

'No need to worry.' He told himself. 'You did teach Rin to defend herself. And she is quite skilled with a dagger. Between her and Jaken a human should be no problem.'

But a thousand scenarios ran through the youkai's head. What if either of them had been resting? What if the human took them each by surprise? What if Rin was bathing so did not have her dagger with in easy reach?

Oh Kami not that! Anything but that! If she were surprise bathing she would be naked! If she couldn't get her dagger, and were taken by surprise...

He was running when he came upon Jaken's unconcious form. He stopped dead in his tracks. Then he saw the inmprint on Jaken's head of a tiny foot. He had taught Rin well.

He almost smiled as a great weight lifted. Rin would not have rendered the toad unconcious had she felt she were in any danger. But this still left her unsupervised with a human in the area. And his sent was extremely strong now, he was far to close! He immediately picked up Rin's sent and went to find her. He had no time to deal with Jaken untill his daughter was safe beside him.

Then her realized that as Rin's scent got stronger so did the other humans. He broke into a run, they were together... He stopped when he saw the two, she was safe! Oh thank the kami and all that was holy, she was safe!

The young human said something causing Rin to giggle. The human then also chuckled. A secret horror that he had never had the courage to acknowledge made it's self known. What if his little girl liked this human!

Now what? Rin had obviously befriended this young man so he couldn't just slay him. She would never forgive him if he knowingly hurt a friend of hers. And it was obvious from the sound of her laughter that this boy was a friend.

While the Youkai lord stood contemplating his choices the young human yawned and stretched his arms over his head. When he let his arms back down the left one landed around Rin's shoulders. Sesshomaru growled silently and drew Hoshi. He was putting an end to this now!

Kenji was enjoying just being in this girls company and listening to her chatter on about this and that. It was a refreshing change, his father and brother weren't real big talkers. Sometimes he just started talking to break the silence and wondered if Rin didn't do the same. He got the idea that her father was not the talkative type either.

Kenji didn't talk as much as Rin, but when he did he told the most fascinating stories and funniest jokes. Rin found herself leaning towards him and hanging on every word. At the moment he was telling her about what he called The Sake Incident. When he was 11 and his brother Makoto 14, His brother had found a flask of Sake and decided he was old enough to drink it.

He was about half way through his story and both he and Rin were laughing when the dull side of a metal object collided with the back of his skull with a loud thunk. Kenji hissed in pain and grabbed the back of his head with his right hand. His left arm remained around Rin's shoulders. Both teeens looked back to see a tall pale youkai behind them staring down with cold, angrey eyes.

"Uh, hi Daddy. Welcome back." Rin replied nervously. Her father did not look to pleased. And that was a bad thing.

Kenji gaped at the young woman. "That's your father?" He asked in a choked voice.

Rin glanced at kenji and nodded. "Uh huh." She replied with big eyes.

Sesshomaru glared at Kenji with narrowed eyes. "Your arm."

"Huh?"

"Remove it at once or I will remove it."

The young boy immediatly dropped his arm and got to his feet standing before the youkai.

"Rin, go wait at the top of the hill."

"Please don't hurt Kenji, Daddy. He's my friend." The girl pleaded with her big puppy eyes. "Please, we were just talking."

"Do as I told you Rin. I will be there in just a moment." He looked into those big brown eyes. "Do as I say. If you both tell me the truth I might let him live." He told the panicked girl. He wanted nothing more than to insure this boy would never have a family but those eyes...

The girl gave him a quick bow. "Yes Daddy." She replied then obediently scampered up the hill and watch anxiously.

"Who are you and what are you doing with my daughter?" Sesshomaru asked giving the boy a look to freeze blood.

"N-nothing Sir, I swear we were just talking. I wouldn't do anything bad to a woman, I swear. My own father would kill me if I hurt a woman. M-my name Is Kenji Yomato"

"What are you doing here?"

"I was just scouting ahead sir. My father and brother are not to far from her. I saw Rin and she appeared alone so I thought it best to keep her company untill you arrived. These are wild lands,"

Sesshomaru studied the boy's armour. He was dressed as a samurai, though he didn't look old enough to be one. One of the tenents of Bushido was honesty. "Wait here."

He climbed the hill to where Rin stood. "Did he touch you?"

Rin looked up at her father "Touch me?" She asked in confusion. "No, of course not."

Sesshomaru stared at her for another minute. She was telling the truth. She had never been able to lie to him and had learned a long time agon to always just tell the truth, even when she'd been bad. Lying just made thing worse. Actually he tended to go rather easy on her if she was completely honest.

He turned and gave Kenji another icey glare then walked started to walk away. 

"Wait sir..." Kenji called after the youkai. Sesshomaru turned to see the young man approaching him and Rin. The boy was either stupid or very brave. "Might I ask your name?" The boy asked stopping just a couple of yards from them.

"I am known as Sesshomaru."

"Sesshomaru-sama, I am truely sorry about this misunderstanding. I assure you I ment no harm. If there is ever anything you or Rin need you have but ask. I am afraid I can not give you any specific advise on where to find me, but I doubt you would need it."

Rin stared at the young man in awe. He was absolutly the bravest man she'd ever met aside from her father. Sesshomaru just regarded him with his emotionless expression. This kid had spirit. He was impressed, he'd never admit it, but he was. Of course that didn't mean he trusted the brat around Rin.  
Sesshomaru turned and led Rin back to where they had left Jaken. He heard Kenji behind them. That made sense, his horse was somewhere on the other side of the field. When they reched Jaken they stopped. Kenji handed Rin a flower he'd picked as he walked past and smiled at her. He knew their paths would cross again. But he heard Sesshomaru growl and so didn't stop.

Both Rin and Sesshomaru watched until Kenji was out of side then Sesshomaru kicked Jaken awake. The toad awoke and stammered a greeting then started begging for forgiveness for being knocked out.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru didn't bother even looking at the toad but rather his eyes gazed out into space. "Did you disobey a direct order by Rin?"

"Uh, I'm sorry my lord but there was a human male..."

"Jaken, did he seem dangerous to you?"

"All humans could be dangerous to Rin..."

"Jaken! Did his demeanor seem menacing?"

"N-no M-milord."

A well aimed kick sent the imp tumbling into the boulder he'd been resting against earlier.

"Jaken. Come."

The toad stood up and meekly made his way back to his lord.

"Were you rude to Rin's guest?"

Before the toad could respond Sesshomaru once again sent him flying into the boulder and called him back a third time.

"You owe Rin and appology. She is your princess and you will obey her unless it is a life or death situation." The third kick sent him roughly in Rin's direction.

Rin was sitting on her knees watching the whole thing. He father met her eyes and she knew she was meant to punish the toad as well. He would not learn to respect her otherwise. Jaken waddled over and appologized profusely.

Rin really hated to be violent but she really had no choice. Her father expected her to be a lady, and part of that meant not taking any crap from the servants. She stared down at Jaken with that glare learned from Daddy as he made his appologies.

"Don't let it happen again." She told the toad as she back handed him. 


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own them. Not a real exciting chapter, but I think its just a little bit cute.

Sesshomaru hated the rain. A hard rain could drown out soft noises and made it near impossible to smell anything. Plus his daughter was cold. Her kimono was soaked through and she was chilled to the bone.

She rode Ah Un leaning down close to the dragon for warmth. Sesshomaru looked back over his shoulder at the girl. They needed to find shelter soon. The packs on the saddle were leather so the rain didn't get in them. Rin had a spare kimono but they needed to get out of the rain before she could change.

They were riding through a valley with steep rock walls on either side. Up ahead another mountain trail merged with their own. Sesshomaru growled ever so softly when he thought he heard horses' hooves agaisnt the stone of the other path.

Three samurai came around the rock outcrop and met them on the trail. Sesshomaru really wasn't happy when he recognised the last one. Makoto and his father, Taro, spotted the other group first and nodded politely. Then Kenji came around the corner and his face litup.

"Sesshomaru-sama, Rin, Hello." He called causing the girl to sit up right and his family to wonder how he knew them.

"Kenji, hello." Rin smiled as her group reached his.

"Father, Makoto, this is Sesshomaru-sama and his daughter Rin. Sesshomaru-sama, Rin, this is my father Taro Yomato and my older brother Makoto."

Both Taro and Makoto bowed slightly and Sesshomaru nodded his head and Rin returned their bow. Then the two groups kept moving. Kenji rode close enough to Rin that they could speak together. His brother rode just infront of him to the side a little and His father decided to keep pace with Sesshomaru.

"Your daughter is soaked to the bone, poor child." The old samurai stated looking back at the young folks. Sesshomaru nodded just slightly. He knew very well that Rin was wet.

"My sons and I are familliar with this area." He continued. "There is a good size cave up the road a quarter of a mile. My sons ans I plan to wait out the storm there. Your family is more than welcome to join us."

"I will consider it." Sesshomaru replied though both knew there was nothing to consider, the humans all needed to get out of the rain. That included Rin. They reached the cave quickly and all gathered inside. It was indeed large, big enough to accomadate even the horses and the dragon. They tied the animals to a tree root that poked through the rock and found some wood left by other campers.

Yomato tried unsucessfully to light a fire. He had wood and kindling but his stone and flint were wet. "My stone and flint are dry, may I try to start the fire?" Rin asked standing behind him. He nodded and moved out of the way. In just a few minutes Rin had a small fire going and was feeding the smallest twigs into it.

Kenji mean while saw examioning the walls of the cave, they were riddled with smaller caverns, but none were deep enough to afford any privacy. If he knew anything about women it was that they never go anywhere without extra clothing. And if Rin's flint and stone were dry her extra kimonos would be as well.

He and his brother and father were men, warriors, they were strong. And they were not strangers to being cold and wet, they'd be fine, But what about Rin? She should get out of those wet cloths before she fell ill. But none of the smaller caverns were deep enough to conceal her. Then he got an idea.

He pulled his blanket out of his bag and laid it to the side. Then He went to where Jaken was sulking in a corner, the little imp was still miffed that no one had bothered in introduce him. "What do you wan't, human?" The Imp asked when he saw Kenji standing over him smiling.

"I need to ask a favor."

"What?"

"I need to borrow your walking stick." He replied then snatched the staff out of Jaken's hand before he could refuse. This caught everyones attentions, that and the imp's ranting and screaming. "I'll bring it right back." Kenji assured him, slightly amused by his reaction.

Kenji wedged the Staff Of Two Heads into the entrance to one of the smaller sub-caverns. He threw his blanket over it and gave a slight tug to be sure it wouldn't fall. Then he turned to Rin. "I assume you have a spare change of clothing? You should get dry before you catch cold."

When Jaken heard Kenji's words he paused to see just what he'd done with the staff. Then realizing it was for the girl's benifit he quit yelling. He still muttered and sulked in the corner however.

Rin smiled at Kenji then looked questioningly at her daddy. He watched Kenji walk to the other side of the cave then gave Rin a slight nod. She gathered up the folds of silk out of her pack and dissapeared behind the makeshift curtain.

Sesshomaru gave Kenji just the very slightest glance. "Clever." He told the boy then returned to his own thoughts before he could see the smile that spead across Kenji's face.

After a few moments Rin emerged from behind the curtain wearing a pink kimono with light green bamboo stalks all over and a matching green obi. She had her wet hair twisted up in a bun so it didn't get her kimono wet. She smiled brightly at Kenji and took a seat beside Sesshomaru.

Kenji then took the curtain down. He folded his blanket and put it back in his pack. He handed the staff back to Jaken while thanking the imp for his cooperation. Then there was nothing to do but sit around talking while waiting out the storm.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own any manga or anime except for what I bought at Wal-mart. 'kay?

Sesshomaru cracked one eye open to check on the teenagers across the cave. Kenji was once again sitting to close to Rin. Sesshomaru gave a warning growl which caused Kenji to jump and scoot away a little.

Across the cave Makoto and Taro were playing a game of go. They paused and watched with mild amusement. The first time Taro had been angered and almost made the mistake of attacking Sesshomaru but saw that the youkai made no move to harm his younger son. It was only a warning to keep his distance from the fair young maiden.

Sesshomaru seemed to think three to four feet was a good distance between the two and only growled when ever Kenji got closer. And by the boy's startled appearance it seemed that each time he had not realized that he had inched closer to the girl. This time he had been sitting within a foot of her.

'This boy is really testing my patience!' Sesshomaru thought bitterly. 'Why doesn't he just crawl up in her lap and get it over with? Then at least I'd have reason to gut him like a fish!'

He couldn't help but growl loudly at that particular thought, causing all of the male humans to stare at him. They all relaxed when they realized it was his own thoughts the growl was directed at.

Rin just smiled at her father and pushed her hair back out of her eyes. It was only slightly damp now and most of it had worked it's way out of the bun and hung around her shoulders and down her back. She hadn't thought to comb it.

Sesshomaru opened his eyes to look at her. "Rin."

"Yes Daddy?"

"Your hair."

Her hands flew to the tangled mess around her shoulders. "Opps. I forgot." She replied sheepishly. She then trotted over to their bags and dug out a delicatly carved wooden comb and set about straightening it. 

Rin was concentrating so hard on trying to straighten the tangled mess with out breaking to many hairs that she didn't even notice Kenji staring at her as she worked. She picked at one particularly tough knot, the tip of her tounge between her teeth and just visible past her lips.

She heard Kenji chuckle and looked up to find him watching her. Her cheeks turned bright pink and she quickly turned her face away shyly and hid it behind her long sleeve. Then she lowered her sleeve so that just her large brown eyes were visible and smiled coyly at him.

As Kenji watched her he felt his heart flutter in his chest. Even a blind man could see she was the most stunning creature on the planet. And she was flirting with him! 

She finally lowered her sleeve all the way and held his eyes for a few moments. Then she looked away and resumed work on her hair while humming a little tune to herself. Every now and then she would glance at him sideways with a cute little smile.

Luckily Sesshomaru had not witnessed any of this. He was at the moment resting eyes. Which is daddy talk for doing what daddies do best, napping. He might be a great youkai lord, but he was a daddy after all.

Taro and Makoto had seen the whole thing however. Makoto had noticed his brother staring at Rin with a rather blank, stunned expression Like one who had just seen a celestial being or a ghost. He had caught his father's eye and nodded his head towards his younger brother and they had both followed his gaze to Rin who had just hidden her face. 

'It is no wonder he is so over protective of the little temptress.' Taro thought with amusement. The girl must attract every single lad in every villiage they passed. Probably a fair portion of the married ones too. A father would be a little on edge.

Jaken had also witnessed it and turned away, suddenly very intrested in checking the supplies. 

Kenji watched Rin work on combing out her tresses. The fluttering of his heart wouldn't slow down. He felt he had to get up and move or it was going to burst out of his chest.

He got up and walked to the mouth of the cave but the rain was still coming down in sheets. So he did the only thing he could do. He started pacing. The movement caught Sesshomaru's attention and he watched the aggitated boy.

"Do not mind Kenji. We have been in this cave a while and you know how young boys are, full of energy. Especially that one. He get restless very easily."

Kenji realized he was being watch and returned to his previous seat. He decided to occupy himself with polishing his weapons for a while but that didn't hold his attention and was not enough to distract him from watching Rin. 

That left him with one option, to pick a fight with Makoto. This was not an easy task. Makoto was by nature a bit like Sesshomaru, calm and self disiplined. But after spending his entire youth with his brother he knew just which buttons to push and soon the boys were wrestling on the cave floor.

Taro would allow it for a while. It would burn off some of their pent-up energy. And besides, rough housing was good for young warriors. He just didn't want them, to hurt each other, they had on occasion drawn blood. And he didn't want their fighting to disturb the others but so far no one really seemed to mind. Infact watching the two fight was about the only amusment avalible.

Only Sesshomaru sighed in annoyance and leaned back against the cave wall with his eyes closed. When would this accursed rain ever stop? 


	7. Chapter 7

Guess what, I do own them! Not! Oh if only... This is just a cute short chapter. Mostly about how Sesshy see's his little girl. And some one said I should explain how Sesshy conviced Totosai to make another sword, so that's in here.

Sesshomaru fought back annoyance as his little pack walked along the trail. It had been over a week since the rain had let up and they had left that accursed cave. Rin had been acting strangely ever since.

She day dreamed more often and her head seemed to stay in the clouds. Most of the songs she hummed to her self sounded like love songs. And rather than weaving garlands for Ah 'Un she would pull the petals off of the flowers she picked. Half the time she would giggle after picking the last one.

Sesshomaru didn't like the way his daughter was acting. No, he didn't like it at all. Rin was acting like a love sick puppy. But that wasn't possible, she was to young to be in love, right? Kami, she was only 14 years old. She hadn't been with him but seven years.

But she was human, not youkai. Humans do age faster... Looking at her one could not deny that she had matured. Except Sesshomaru, he stubbornly refused to see anything but the seven-year-old child he had taken under his wing. Even when everyone around him insisted on pointing it out.

Right at the moment Rin was sitting on Ah 'Un once again mutilating a poor flower. She smiled brightly as she pulled the last petal off and giggled insanely. She sighed and looked at her adoptive father. "Daddy?"

"Hn?" He asked in aknowledgement of her with out turning around.

"Do you think we'll run into Kenji and his family again soon?"

Sesshomaru paused and glanced over his shoulder at the girl. Then realized he had to look up to see her face. When the hell had she gotten so tall that he had to look up at her when she rode Ah 'Un?

"I do not know." He answered. 'Kami, I hope not!' He thought. He glanced down at Hoshi and once again curse Totosai.

He had asked Totosai to make this sword. At first Totosai stead fastly refused. Sesshomaru pointed out that tokijin was far to powerful to use against human boys and Tensaiga could not kill. He had then explained that Rin was becoming too beautiful, he needed a sword to defend her.

Well, that was different than just wanting to exterminate humans, wasn't it? Totosai finally agreed, after going on and on about how maybe there was a little bit of Inutaisho in Sesshomaru after all. But he still didn't fully trust Sesshomaru so he made a slight modification. The sword would only awaken if Rin, or someday one of her descendants, were in danger.

Damn it, he didn't fear any of these young men would kill her. It wasn't her life he worried about... It was her honor. And so now he had two practically worthless swords. Damn that Totosai...

He was drawn out of his thoughts by Rin rushing past him as she gathered up flowers. She didn't pull them apart this time. She noticed Ah 'Un was a little down to day, and realized she hadn't been paying them much attention the past few days. So she began to weave garlands while they walked.

Now that was more like it, an activity he was use to. She quickly finished one and hung it on her arm while she made the other, then placed one on each of the dragon's heads. She kissed it on each muzzle like a girl might kiss her pony and appologized for neglecting the beast. It's two heads nuzzled the girl fondly, they so loved the child.

"Daddy, next time we go by a town do you think maybe I can buy something pretty in the market place?"

What was it with girls and shopping? "Rin, you have three good kimonos, four or five combs, a mirror, and a necklace in one of those packs." 'And Kami only knows how much stuff at home...' His mind added.

"But daddy..." Her eyes got big and that bottom lip came out.

'Don't look, you know just what she is doing. Do not look...' He thought. He looked anyway. Rin used the most powerful weapon a girl can use, puppy dog eyes.

"I'll think about it."


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own Inuyasha. If I did I wouldn't have to write this here, I'd just make a spin-off manga based 7 years in the future.

Rin and Jaken were in town alone for the moment. Sesshomaru had sensed a storm so was off to see if he could find an appropriate shelter for his child in the wilds surrounding this small city, if not they would have no choice to seek shelter at the local inn. Though he would prefer not to have Rin around the rough types that frequented such places if it could be avoided. Jaken had been left in charge with strict orders to keep Rin out of trouble.

Rin wandered from stall to stall admiring rows of fine silks and piles of well made jewelry. Between such stands were the vegitable stands and cook ware stands offereing crude stone ware. All along the street were little shops and stores but many of those had stands set up out side in the natural sunlight so people could actually see what they offered.

"Young lady. Hello, young lady." An elderly voice called. Rin turned to see a withered old woman sitting at a small booth placed back between two larger ones.

"Hello." Rin greeted approaching the woman with the grumbling Jaken in tow.

"You must have left your house in a bit of a hurry. What are you looking for dear, perhaps I can tell you where to find it."

"Oh, nothing in particular. I was just looking. Why would you think I left my house in a hurry?"

"Well, you didn't even take time to put on a little make up."

"I don't own any make up." Rin replied with a shrug.

"You don't own make up?" The old woman asked acting surprised. "Why as beautiful as you are? That is almost a sin! Why don't you come here so I can take a look at you?"

Jaken threw a fit and forbade Rin from going any closer to the human. Lord Sesshomaru wouldn't want her near the weird old hag he said.

"It's ok Jaken. She looks friendly to me. And besides, your here to protect me. An old human woman is no threat at all when you have a powrful youkai to protect you." Rin reasoned as she walked over to the booth. She gave him a bright smile. There was no argueing with the child but he continued to grumble his protests.

The old woman took Rin's hand and pulled her down close to examine her face. "Such lovely skin. I have never seen a girl your age with such a perfect complextion. And those large eyes and lips. Why add a little color to catch the eye, draw some attention to your features and you could outshine the moon herself!" She raved in awe.

She released Rin's hand and began setting out little jars and pots of liquid in shades of red and purple. Rin scanned the jars with obvious interest. Ocassionally she would pick on up and look at it more closely. The whole time Jaken complained and tried to convince Rin she didn't need the silly looking gunk in those jars.

The old woman glared at the imp and shook her head. "Ignore him dear. Men rarely understand how important it is to look your best at all times. Speaking of men, you must have to beat the boys off with a stick. But is there perhaps one that's caught your eye?"

Rin looked up at the old lady and blushed. The old lady smiled. "I thought so. Come now, tell me about this young man."

Rin glanced at Jaken, he had turned away in disgust muttering about silly girls, he wasn't paying attention. "His name is Kenji." She whispered leaning toward the woman.

"And what does your young man do for a living? A merchant... A soilder..." She whispered back

"He is a samurai."

"How wonderful! A strong, brave, young man, no doubt he is good with a sword and can protect you from harm... Just imagine how much he would desire you for a wife if those marvolous features of yours were played up just a little!"

Rin blushed... her? A wife? Kenji's wife? She found herself smiling at the thought. Her eyes sparkled as she pictured them together, his arms around her as they sat in a nice little house watching children play on the floor.

"Rin?" A deep voice cut into her little day dream.

"Yes daddy?" She asked staring up at the youkai.

The old lady stared. Pointed ears. Facial markings. The girl called a youkai daddy? Funny, she didn't look like a hanyou to her! No matter, a sale was a sale...

Sesshomaru's gaze drifted from the girl to the merchandise set out for her consideration. Rin clasped her hands together and stared up at him. "May I get some make up please? Please?"

"You do not need such foolishness."

"But the other girls all wear it."

"Those other girls are not my daughter."

"But I just want to look pretty. Please? I just want to be pretty."

Sesshomaru's eyes softened. "Rin, you do not need that foolishness." He repeated much softer now.

"But don't you want me to be pretty?" Rin asked, her eyes got big and that lip came out.

The old woman cleared her throat causing Rin to turn back to her. "Before you and your father make a desicion, perhaps you should see if it truely suits you." Before Sesshomaru could think to forbid it the woman had dipped a small brush in a jar of red and applied the color to Rin's lips. She then handed Rin a mirror. Rin stared at her lovely face and smiled.

"Look at me daddy! See? See how pretty it makes me? Can I please get some?"

Sesshomaru frowned mentally, he would never understand females. Rin was beautiful enough with out this nonsense. He already had a hard enough time keeping young men away from her. For some reason these boys loved it when girls painted their faces, if he let her get this stuff that would only make life so much harder.

But those big puppy eyes were so hard to say no to. And then that lip started trembling...

The old sales lady smiled. She had seen this battle so many times in her long, long years. The youkai lord had lost before the battle had even begun. If there is one thing all girls know it is how to get what they want from daddy.

Just a short while later Rin was following her daddy down the street with two small jars with tight fitting lids wrapped in rice paper. She hummed a happy little tune to her self while Sesshomaru cursed the fates. There was no shelter, which meant when the rain came they would have to go to the local Inn or Rin might fall ill and he had been coerced in to buying her that make up! The day just couldn't get any worse, could it?

Then he noticed a scent behind them. 'Don't stop...' He thought to him self. 'Just keep walking, perhaps you can get out of sight before the boy notices the three of you.' He noticed the boys scent come closer and the foot steps get louder.

"Guess who!" Kenji challenged covering Rin's eyes as he came up behind her.


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own Inuyasha or any of the other charaters of this anime. If I did it would be the males who were always naked in the hot springs!

"Guess who!" Kenji challenged as he covered Rin's eyes from behind. Sesshomaru instinctively reached for his sword but was halted by Rin's giggles. Then he remembered that this was a human game.

When Rin was very young she had gone through a phase of wanting to play this game. When neither he nor Jaken reacted to her challenge she had at first explained the rules. Then later she would pout and complain that they didn't play right, they were supose to act like they didn't know who she was. Eventually she gave up. The game wasn't much fun when they refused to play it right.

"I'll give you three guesses." The young man added as her laughter subsided.

"Three guesses? Hmmmm..." Rin pursed her lips and placed a finger on her chin as though she were thinking hard.

"Are you uncle Inuyasha?" She asked playfully. She had started calling Inuyasha and Kagome uncle and aunt shortly after she started calling her lord daddy. Obviously if Sesshomau was her daddy his brother was her uncle, whether they liked him or not. Fortunatly time has a way of changing how people feel about one another, so Sesshomaru was only occasionally bothered by her calling Inuyasha uncle.

"Nope!" Kenji laughed. Inuyasha, that was a weird name. Well, then again her father was a dog youkai, his brothers and sisters would probably be inu youkai as well. And that's exactly what the name meant.

"Aunt Kagome?"

"Guess again."

"Hmmmmm. Your not Kenji, are you?" She asked as she wheeled around to face him.

"Hello Rin. Hello Sesshomaru-sama. Hi Jaken and Ah'Un." Kenji stared at Rin for a moment before asking "How long have you guys been in town?"

"A couple of hours." Rin answered with a huge smile. She was glad the make-up lady had painted her lips now.

"We've only been in town a short while. We decided to stock up on supplies while we were in the area."

"Where are you father and brother?" Rin wondered seeing that Kenji was apparently alone.

"Father and Makoto? They're right here with m..." The boy turned to point only to see that his brother and father were no where in sight. He blinked in confusion.

"Well... They were with me a moment ago... I guess I must have lost them. But that's ok. When ever we go into town father always chooses a place for us to meet if we get seperated."

Rin giggled again while Sesshomaru resisted the urge to roll his eyes and Jaken muttered something about stupid human males. Rin and Kenji continued to talk for several more minutes untill Kenji decided to go look for his family. His eyes barely left Rin for a moment, and Sesshomaru didn't like that. He really, really didn't like the way this young man was looking at his baby girl, like a lovestruck puppy.

They said their good-byes. Rin looked back at her daddy to see if he was paying close attention. He was distracted by a loud noise and some shouting for a breif moment. Rin took that moment to smile sweetly at Kenji and bat her eyes. He smiled shyly and made a hasty retreat while she giggled.

As he walked away he kept glancing back over his shoulder. He was so intent on her that he wasn't watching where he was going and he tripped over a box and knocked over a bundle of bamboo rods. The rods fell to the ground with a loud clatter while Kenji tried to regain his balance only to fall backward rather than forward. He landed with an unceremonious splat in a mud puddle.

He looked down at the puddle with distaste and groaned. Then started apologizing profusely to the man whose bamboo had been knocked over while he picked himself up. The older gentleman just laughed at the young boy. And then smiled knowingly as a sweet, beautiful, young lady came running up from the same direction he had been looking.

"Kenji, are you ok?" Rin asked placing a concerned hand on his shoulder.

Kenji's face was blood red as he nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He kept his face turned away as he started to pick up the bamboo he'd knocked over.

"I'll help you." Rin stated and reached for a bamboo pole.

"No, you'll get dirty!" Kenji replied grabbing her hand to stop her. They both stared at their joined hands for a shocked moment then looked up at each other. Now Rin's cheeks were also pink.

"Rin." A deep voice almost growled causing the youngsters to jump. They looked up at the stoic youkai. Anger and loathing were the only emotions Sesshomaru never bothered to hide, and if looks could kill there would be a dead samurai laying in the middle of town. "Come." He told his daughter as he turned to leave.

"Hai." She replied and started after him. Then then stopped and look at Kenji. "Um, I need my hand back now."

"Oh! Sorry!" The boy exclaimed and dropped her hand. He looked away with hot cheeks. Then he gasped. His eyes went wide and he dropped the poles he held as he felt her lips brush his cheek. He turned to stare at her.

Rin smiled at him and giggled then turned to run after her daddy. Kenji just stood and stared after her. Meanwhile the old bamboo man was dying of laughter.


	10. Chapter 10

Guess what. I still don't own 'em. darn it. Sorry I haven't updated in so long. My computer got sick, it had some nasty viruses and sadly passed away. but now I is back.

"Rin, go ahead and take Ah 'Un to the stables." Sesshomaru told the young woman as he entered the inn. He was going in first to 'negotiate' with the owner to insure they got good rooms and Rin didn't need to see it.

What qualified as a good room to the youkai lord? Well, since they slept outside most of the time creature comforts were not his main concern. No, with the kinds of people that stayed here he wanted a room on the top floor. High enough that anyone who 'fell' out of the window would break every bone in their body.

He also wanted a door that could be locked. In these cheap old Inns most doors did not. He wanted solid walls with no loose boards. And most important, very creaky floor boards. And may the kami pity any baka who tried to sneak in, 'cause he would not!

He was not afraid for their safety, for who could challenge the great youkai lord? But he had already seen many of these men staring at his little princess with blatant lust in their eyes. He knew these men were cunning and devious, they would tell a pretty young girl what ever it took to lure her out after night fall and then leave her to handle the consequences alone. He would not let that happen to his Rin.

And his daughter wouldn't know any better. She didn't even know where babies came from yet, he had stood by his story that babies come from mid-wives who grow them in magic cabage patches and hand them out to young mothers. A childish story perhaps but what else could he tell her? She wasn't old enough for the truth. He would tell her the truth one day, when she was older.

Of course he didn't know that Rin knew the truth already. At around 8 or 9 she had realized that was a lie and the first chance she got to be alone with Aunt Kagome she had asked her the question of where babies come from.

But she wasn't going to tell her daddy that. Let him think she was still ignorant, he wasn't ready to realize she was growing up. And so she led Ah'Un to the stable while her father made arrangments to ensure she would not age past seven years old.

She pushed open the door of the stable and was met by the strong scent of horses and stale hay. She heard a by now familiar voice. Kenji was humming softly to his self as he brushed the saddle marks out of Hannako's coat.

"Hello Kenji." Rin stated as she walked up behind him with her father's dragon in tow. Kenji turned and smiled at her as he greeted her. They talked for a few minutes. Then there was a long pause as they gazed at each other.

As they stood smiling silently Ah nudged Rin in the back, quite hard actually, she stumbled and fell forward. Two strong arms quickly wrapped around her to stop her fall and instead of finding herself on the muddy floor she found herself pressed against an armoured chest. She stared up into his soft brown eyes and he gazed down at her.

'Un opened the latch on the empty stall and Ah 'Un put it's self up. Then it turned around and Ah closed the door behind it. Both teens were oblivious to the beast's actions as they were lost in each other's eyes. Rin felt her heart flutter in her chest as Kenji closed his eyes and began to tilt his face toward hers. She closed her eyes and waited.

"Kenji, what is taking you so long?" A voice cut in, breaking the spell. They Looked at the door as Taro rounded the corner. He stopped short when he saw the two locked in an embrace.

"What is going on in here?" He asked suspiciously.

"Rin tripped."

"I tripped."

They answered in unison, while stepping away from each other. He gave them a skeptical look. "Son, if you are done grooming Hannako Makoto is waiting for us." Taro stated in a voice bore no argument.

"I'll see you later." He told Rin. Then he picked up his saddle and bridle, (They might dissapear if he left them.) and followed after his father. On their way they passed Sesshomaru who, having finished his 'negotiations', was on his way to help Rin.

"Son, I urge you to be catious. I know she is a pretty youg girl, and very sweet. But don't forget, that youkai has claimed her for his daughter. You are still young and inexperienced and I have grown old. If Sesshomaru decides you are a threat to her honor I could not protect you."

"Father!" Kenji gasped, "You know me better than that, I would never dishonor Rin! You and mother raised me better than that."

"I know son. But Sesshomaru does not. I know you are fond of that girl, but he is very protective of her. Just be careful, do not give him a reason to think ill of you."

They did not see Rin and Sesshomaru again untill supper time. Rin came down the stairs a few minutes before her father and Jaken. A swarm of eager, hungery men immediately descended upon her flexing their muscles and bragging. Several made very lewd remarks, many of which Rin, being still very young and innocent, did not understand. One man noticed the look of innocent confusion on her face and offered to show her what they meant, then reached out and ran his hand suggestively down her thigh, earning a bright red mark across his cheek in the process.

Sesshomaru spotted Rin just intime to see Kenji thrust himself between her and the more aggressive men with his sword drawn. He was about to attack but decided to hold back and see how the young samurai fared. He would intervine if neccesary but was curious about the boy's skill with a sword. He was, after all, a fellow warrior. And so he stayed back in the shadows

Jaken had also seen the men harrassing the princess and started forward with pure murder blazing in his eyes.

"Jaken, wait." Shesshomaru instructed. The imp obeyed immediatly. But oh, how he wanted to get at those crude, boarish, perverts!

"Rin, go sit with my father." Kenji called over his shoulder never taking his eyes off these men. "Speaking of fathers, did you own teach you men nothing? That is no way to address a lady!"

"Whats it to you?" One of them challenged. "Get out of our way boy!"

Rin placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kenji, let's just go."

"I said go sit with my father."

"But..."

"Do as he say's Rin." Makoto demanded, having come to fight beside his brother. "This is nothing for a lady to get caught up in." Before she could protest further a strong hand wrapped gently, but firmly around her arm and Taro guided her away from the unruly group. One young man lunged at Rin and Kenji's father, determined not to let them leave. Kenji blocked him and the song of metal rang though out the spacious room. It was on!

Every head turned to the sound. All eyes watch as the intricate dance of block, dodge, and attack was played out. Kenji and Makoto, out numbered as they were held their ground quite well. Moving with the speed and certainty the only hard training and raw talent combined could produce. The skill of these young samurai was enough even to impress the dog lord.

"Little brother..." Makoto called over the din of clashing metal, "It seems that these men dislike you." He smirked and ducked the wild slash of a poorly wielded blade.

"Gee Makoto, think so?" Kenji blocked a blade with his own one handed and punched the wielder across the face with his other fist.

"Perhaps we should focus less on your swordsmanship and give more thought to improving your interpersonal skills."

"Big brother, I am fairly certain this crowd would not be inclinded to politely talk out our diffrences over tea and rice balls."

Now Sesshomaru really was impressed. Fighting like this against this many enemies they still had the energy to tease one another. He had seen enough. He allowed his youki to rise. His eyes turned red and his stripes and fangs became more prominent and savage looking. He stepped out of the shadows and walked between the two stunned warriors. The opposing warriors and many spectators turned and fled in terror

Makoto just stared in shock and fear, the only thing that stayed his sword was that he recognized Sesshomaru's garments. Kenji stared too but eventually recovered and dropped into a low bow. Sesshomaru watched the terrified men retreat and allowed his youki to fall, his stripes and fangs returning to normal as his eyes returned to their golden yellow color.

Rin trotted up to her father smiling broadly as soon as Taro released his hold on her arm. He had not let go until he was sure the danger had passed. He followed behind the child at a more dignified pace.

Sesshomaru looked at each human in turn. "I saw you protect Rin." Then he did something extremely hard for a youkai of his stature. He inclined his head to them and uttered two words he never in his life thought he'd say to a human. "Thank you."

"your welcome." The humans replied. Kenji bowed low as he said it. He had been raised to respect his elders after all, and Sesshomaru was probably older than his father.

"Will you and your family have dinner with us?" Taro offered politely. Sesshomaru hesitated. To fight with humans, to protect a child, that was onething. To eat with a family of them was another. Then he made the mistake of looking at Rin.


	11. Chapter 11

I don't own them.

How had it come to this? Sesshomaru wondered as he listened to the humans conversing over rice and unagi. He had fully intended to politely refuse Taro's invitation. Damn it all to hell, he should know better than to look at his daughter in situations like these. One look at those puppy eyes and he turned to putty.

It was just so wrong, the great Inu youkai, Sesshomaru, giving in to every whim of a human child. And yet, would he change it even if he could? He knew the answer. As frustrating as it could be she was his daughter. His baby girl.

Right now his baby girl was hanging on every word Kenji said. The young man seemed sincere and honorable. But how could he be sure? What a man pretends to be and what he truely is can be so different. If that boy so much as laid a dishonorable finger on Rin...

Right now the young man was making it impossible to think he could be anything but honorable. In fact, there was a certain innocence to his behavior, granted he was still very young himself. This boy, like Rin, was acting less like a battle hardened warrior and more like a love struck puppy. And Sesshomaru didn't like that at all.

Actually these humans weren't all that bad. Had it not been for the constant distraction he might actually have enjoyed this conversation he was having, or trying to have, with Taro. This human had an unusually deep understanding of battle tatics and strategy.

There was a lull in the conversation. Both men looked over at their children.

"Your daughter is what, fifteen?"

"fourteen."

"May I ask how long she has been in your care?"

"She came in to my life seven years ago. And Kenji, how long have you had him? Sesshomaru asked.

"You smelled the difference did you? He has been my son since birth. My sister in law died in child birth and my wife had a daughter the year before. She offered to feed Kenji. My brother knew his son was in good hands. He followed his wife to the after life. Kenji knows all about it."

Sesshomaru said nothing. They both just watched to two teens talking and laughing.

"They grow up so fast." Taro mused half thinking to himself. "It must seem even faster for you, having her for such a short time. And when you yourself age slowly."

Sesshomaru nodded slightly while watching Rin. She still looked so young but every one he knew spoke of her as though she were a grown woman. He still saw a child when he looked at her. But even as his heart saw a child he knew she was reaching adulthood. Soon he would have to find her a good husband.

"Your daughter, she is at home with her mother?" Sesshomaru asked.

"No. Her husband. I gave her up about six months ago. I will warn you now, giving that girl up to some young man will be the hardest thing you'll ever do. I didn't want to give my Miki up but it was time for her to start a family and live her own life. She told me two months ago I will be a grandfather next year."

Both men were quiet for some time, Taro only speaking to wish his eldest son good night, Makoto thought it wise to always turn in early, the early bird gets the worm.

Eventually Taro ask Sesshomaru about his swords, all fine looking weapons. This led to a very serious disscussion about swords and proper sword maintence. Sesshomaru had sensed no dishonor in the man Rin was speaking with so allowed his focus to be on the conversation at hand. He did not see Kenji and Rin whisper excitedly together then slip away.

About 10 minutes later they slipped out of a very dimly lit room with their hands clamped over their mouths. Rin tucked some thing into her sleeve as they hurried down the hall way. Once out of ear shot they burst in to hysterics, laughing so hard they had to hold one another to keep from falling over.

"I... can't wait...to see...his face!" Rin replied gasping for breath between laughs.

"I know!" Kenji replied laughing equally as hard. Rin buried her face against Kenji's chest, muffling her laughter. After a few minute Kenji calmed down and stared at the girl in his arms. She looked up at him.

"Oh! Make sure you drink a lot of water just before you go to bed to night." Kenji told Rin.

"Why?"

"To make sure you wake up early. Earlier than him."

"How is drinking water going to... Oh, I see!" Then the two laughed a little more.

When Rin calmed down she looked back up to see Kenji staring at her.

"What?" She asked. She could tell there was something on his mind.

"Um... May I ask you a personal question?"

"I guess so. What is it?"

"Are you promised to someone?"

"No. Are you?" She asked nervously, hoping he wasn't.

"No, I'm not either." He replied.

"We better get back. Daddy will notice me gone, that wouldn't be good." Rin replied stepping back and breaking the embrace. Kenji nodded and they started walking down the hall.

"Rin?"

"Yes?"

"May I hold your hand?" Rin stared at Kenji for a moment then smiled and held her hand out to him. He smiled back as he wrapped his own hand around it and they continued walking.

They rounded a corner and ran into Sesshomaru. The dog youkai stared down at the two teenagers. Rin yanked her hand away from Kenji's but not before her daddy saw them holding hands.

"What is going on here?" He demanded cooley, giving the young man a murderous glare.

"Nothing Daddy." Rin replied.

"You know you are not to wander off by your self in these kinds of places."

"I'm not by myself Daddy."

"It is late. Jaken is waiting for you in the dining room, the two of you are to go up to our room now."

"We were only talking Daddy, thats all." Rin told her father.

"Go to our room. I will not hurt this boy tonight." Sesshomaru told his daughter. He waited untill he could no longer hear her foot steps then held up a menacing hand, the claws glowing with green poison.

"If I ever find out you have done anything to dishonor my daughter I assure you, you will not live to regret it."

"I would never dishonor Rin, sir." Kenji replied.

Sesshomaru turned to walk down the hall way.

"Sesshomaru-sama..." He turned and stared at the boy with an utterly unreadable face. "Um, sir I ... Never mind sir. Good night."

When Sesshomaru returned to the room Rin was drinking her second large cup of water. She immediately jumped to her feet. "What happened? You didn't hurt Kenji did you? I swear we didn't do anything bad!"

"Do not worry Rin. I left the boy in one piece. Jaken, leave." Sesshomaru waited until he couldn't hear the imp any longer then sat on the floor and motioned for Rin to sit beside him.

"Rin, we must talk about something important. Do you remember when you asked me where babies come from?"

"Yes Daddy. And it's ok, I know the truth."

"You do?" He asked, wondering what she had heard and where.

"Yeah. The whole magic garden thing was kinda far-fetched Daddy. I asked Aunt Kagome. I figured since she had a baby she must know where they came from. She told me what happens when a man and a woman get married."

"Rin, some men will not wait until marriage. Some men will tell an innocent young girl the things she wants to hear, will make her believe he cares, take her innocence, and leave her alone to deal with the consequences. Some men are very good at this. Promise me you will not let a man touch you until your wedding night. No matter what he may say."

"I promise Daddy."

"Good girl. Remember Rin, I just want you to be happy. And to be safe. keep your daggers with you at all times and if a man ever tries to touch you tell me right away."

"I will Daddy." Rin replied hugging her father.

Sesshomaru embraced his little girl then told her it was time to sleep. Once she had lain down he found Jaken and sent him to watch Rin. Her safety ensured Sesshomaru went down stairs and got a flask of sake. He saw Kenji telling his own father good night and heading up the stairs.

The next morning his little girl woke up sooner than normal to answer nature then they all went down to breakfast. Rin sat near Kenji and they both kept exchanging smiles. He knew they were up to something, but what?

Then Rin's face broke into a huge grin and she grabbed Kenji's shoulder while pointing. Laughter filled the dining room and Sesshomaru saw Makoto walking sleepily through the door.

Slowly Makoto became aware that the laughter was directed at him. He looked down at his clothing and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Then her felt his hair and found that to be in order. Finally he picked up a metal object and looked upon his image, he saw his eye lids adorned by purple and his lips painted bright red.

"G'mornin Ma'am." One warrior greeted through tears of laughter.

Makoto scanned the room untill her saw Kenji sitting with Rin. He lunged at his brother and Kenji ran for his life! Makoto caught him and the two duked it out untill Taro showed up and restored order.

Taro looked from one son to the other, struggling not to crack even a little smile at Makoto's appearance. He ordered them to wait for him upstairs. He returned with a bucket of water and a cloth in one hand and a bamboo cane in the other.

Sesshomaru had a little discussion with Rin about how she used her make up and she promised never to use it like that again. He told her if she did she would never be permitted to wear make up again.

Later Rin went to the stable to spend time with Ah 'Un before they left and found Kenji tending to Hannako. He looked up and smiled warmly at Rin.

"So what happened last night?" He asked her.

"He wanted to have 'the talk' with me." Rin replied rolling her eyes.

"He didn't tell you when you were 11 or 12?"

"No. I had to find out the facts of life by asking my aunt. He wanted to make sure I knew where babies came from and told me not to let a man touch me until my wedding night."

"Well he's right!" Kenji replied. "No man has a right to touch a woman unless he is willing to devote his entire life to her!" He brushed Hannako for a few more minutes then turned back to Rin.

"Rin, I love you." He said softly. He hoped she would return his feelings.

Rin turned to him with stars in her eyes. "You do?!"

He nodded. "Yes Rin." She threw her self into his arms and hugged him tightly. He held her tightly and stroked her back. Then he leaned his head forward and pressed his lips to hers. She parted her lips, inviting him to explore her mouth with his toungue. His tongue carressed hers and moved over the roof of her mouth. He held her tighter and explored her, savoring her taste. Finally they drew apart and she laid her haed on his shoulder.


	12. Chapter 12

I don't own Sesshy-sama or his little pack.

Sesshomaru had said good bye to Taro and Makoto then gone out to the stables to see if Rin had prepared Ah 'Un yet. What he saw was Kenji holding his little girl. He strode forward and grabbed the boy up by the back of his yukata and pulled him away from Rin.

"You will not touch my daughter!" He growled at the boy as he wrapped a clawed hand around the boy's neck.

"Daddy, no! Don't hurt him! We weren't doing anything! I swear." Rin cried running forward and grabbing his arm. "let Kenji go! please Daddy!

Sesshomaru looked at his little girl. She had tears streaming from her eyes. Then he looked at the young warrior trying to pull his hand away from his neck. He glared at Kenji and dropped him to the ground.

"Rin, we are leaving." He replied still glaring at the young man.

"No Daddy."

"I said we are leaving!" He growled turning to her. "Get on the dragon!"

"But Daddy..." Rin sobbed tears streaking her face.

"Please sir. We have done nothing. I would never dishonor Rin, I love her."

Sesshomaru turned on the boy. "Rin is to young for love!" He growled in rage. "She is only a little girl!"

"Only in your eyes!" Kenji countered. "Every one else can see Rin is a grown woman, you are the only one who sees a child!"

Sesshomaru grabbed Rin's upper arm and made her get up on Ah 'Un then took to the sky before she could think to jump off. The boy was wrong. She wasn't an adult. He tried to block out the heart broken sobs as they flew. After all this was for her own good. Wasn't it?

Once they were far enough away he set down and built her a fire and then took Ah 'Un with him to go get Jaken. He would only be gone a few minutes and could smell no danger. He just wanted to get her away from that boy.

When he returned Rin was laying on the ground crying into her arms. He stared at the pitiful child. He had hoped she would have calmed herself by now. He hated to see her so unhappy. But he had to protect her. What choice did he have?

"Jaken, take Ah 'Un and find some suitable grazing for him."

"Yes mi'lord." Jaken replied bowing low. He took the beast's reins and led it away, glancing back every so often at his lord and princess.

Once the imp was gone from sight Sesshomaru moved to sit beside his daughter and started petting her head. "Rin enough. Stop crying little one."

"I am not a little one Daddy! I'm not a child any more."

"Rin, your only fourteen years old."

"There are fourteen year olds who are married and have babies daddy! You've always told me you wanted me to be happy. Well Kenji makes me happy!" She replied getting to her feet.

"You don't even know the boy."

"I know him better than you do!"

"You think you do. Rin, what a man says he is and what he truely is are often two different things."

"You never gave him a chance to prove who he is! You never do. You always judge everyone with out getting to know them! Some people can be trusted Daddy! Why can't you ever trust any one? Don't you want me to be happy someday?"

Before he could answer she turned and ran from the camp site. He listened to her footsteps and heard her stop several yards away. Still close enough to be safe. He sighed and leaned back against a tree. What was he to do with her? Couldn't she understand he just wanted her to be safe?

* * *

Sesshomaru was not in a good mood. Even though more than a week had passed Rin was still sad about what had happened back in town. And still seemed a bit angry to.

And the weather was terrible, it was hot and muggy. Even the great Sesshomaru was sweating and the dampness caused his kimono to cling rather uncomfortably. And to top it off Jaken insisted on complaining about something. Sesshomaru wasn't listening so had no idea what. But the constant mumbling was grating on his nerves.

All of a sudden Jaken was hurled backward by something hard and fast. He sat up to see Sesshomaru holding a second rock in his hand. "Be silent or I will give you a reason to complain."

"Of course mi'lord!" The imp replied groveling on the ground.

Rin attempted to smile at poor Jaken then sighed as she waved her fan back and forward trying to create a cooling breeze. She brushed a damp lock out of her face and saw her father pause ever so briefly.

"What do you hear daddy?"

"Running water." He replied as he changed his course. They still had plenty of water but it was hot and had been in the containers for two days. They could get fresh, cool water and Rin could splash some on her face to cool off.

While they were refilling their containers Sesshomaru caught the scent of a human. This human had a smell similar to Makoto but feminine. She carried the scent of one who is with child. He watched until she came into view, she looked a bit like Makoto to, she had to be the daughter Taro had mentioned. She couldn't have been much more than 16.

She was humming to her self absently. Skipping along and swinging her buckets. That is untill she saw the group at the river, then she stopped and walked toward them in a more dignified manner. Her cheeks slightly pink due to being seen acting like a child. She was to be a mother next spring, she wasn't suppose to act like a child.

"Hello." She greeted softly as she reached their group. She knelt a few yards away to fill her buckets. Careful to keep her distance but not seeming to worried. Sesshomaru had noticed women, youkai and human alike, seemed less skittish around him since Rin cam into his life. As though having a little girl with him made him less of a threat.

"Hello." Rin chirped, returning the greeting. "My name is Rin. This is my Daddy, Sesshomaru and our servant, Jaken"

The woman looked up from her work quickly and looked more closely at them. She knew those names. She set down her buckets and bowed to them. "It is a pleasure to meet you Sesshomaru-sama and Rin-san. I am Miki, Makoto and Kenji's sister."

"Oh, Kenji told me about you." Rin exclaimed.

Miki smiled at her. "And he has told me all about you." Miki replied picking up her buckets. "Would you and your father care to come to the house? I am afraid father and the boys are out training at the moment but you are more than welcome to come wait for them with me. Infact, I was going to fix lunch for them, perhaps if your father doesn't mind you could help me carry it out to them."

Rin rounded on her father and gave him the most heart breaking, pleading look. "Can we stay for a while Daddy? Please?"

He hesitated. But that look... Then he remembered their conversation a week ago. About him not giving Kenji a chance. Perhaps it would be a good idea to spend some time with the boy and figure out his true motives. He nodded ever so slightly. Rin gave him the biggest smile and hugged him. Then they followed Miki back to her house.

She led them up a twisted path to a modestly sized but well built house. She put some water on to boil and made tea for her guests then went about preparing lunch for her father and brothers.

"What about your husband? Kenji said your married, is he training with your brothers?"

"No. Shiro isn't a samurai, he's a farmer. He took his lunch with him to the fields this morning, he usually does. He insists that I have enough to do with out walking all the way to the fields everyday."

"Your father married you off to a farmer?"

"No, I chose to marry him and my father let me. It's a step down, I know, but I love him and he loves me, so I'm happy. Father wasn't happy with the idea at first. Was afraid I would be unhappy as a farmer's wife. But Shiro is a good man and he knows it."

Sesshomaru just listened silently while sipping his tea. The girl married down in class and yet was happy. She and this Shiro must indeed have the real thing. But then they had been married less than a year, so who could tell if it would last. The child may well have made a mistake.

He finished his tea well before the lunch was packed and rose to his feet with them. He would not object to Rin going with Miki but would insure she didn't leave his sight while they were here.

They took another trail which Sesshomaru realized was leading them down the river. He could hear a waterfall in the distance. Then he heard the sounds of mock battle. He found that Taro had the boys practicing on the smooth wet rocks where they kept slipping awkwardly. It seemed like a good way to improve their balance.

It was bound to happen sooner or later and did at that moment, Kenji lost his footing and slipped from the rock into the water. Makoto started to laugh.

"Hey. I may be wet," Kenji replied standing up. "But you are the one who is still hot and sticky."

Then he moved forward, acting like he was going to climb back up on the rock. Instead he grabbed his brother's foot and pulled it out from under him so that Makoto ended up all wet as well. A short period of chaos ensued as both brothers tried to drown one another. Then Taro quieted them down and told them to get back to work.

"Father, we have company." Kimi called as the group stepped out of the forest.

"Sesshomaru-sama, Rin, how nice to see you." Taro called over the noise of his two sons taunting and sparring. Kenji heard those names and turned to fast ending up back in the river.

Taro shook his head and rolled his eyes while watching his younger son stand back up. "Boys, lunch." He called.

Kenji carefully made his way back to shore, hoping to salvage a shred of dignity. He didn't. Of all days to find that rotten log in the water... down he went one more time. He eventually made it back to dry land and quickly went to greet Sesshomaru and Rin.

Rin had a hand clamped tightly over her mouth to smother her laughter. Not that it did that good a job. She had tears of joy and laughter in her eyes when he finally made it to her. He bowed low before Sesshomaru.

"Rin, Sesshomaru-sama, I am so glad to see you again!" He stared at Rin as he spoke. He wanted to hug her but with Sesshomaru standing right there he didn't dare! Besides, he was soaked and didn't need to get Rin wet.

Mean while Miki was setting out their lunch. "Well come on, lets eat." Taro called. Kenji snapped out of his trance and all the humans sat down to their picnic. Sesshomaru sat beside Rin though he didn't eat. Kenji sat on her other side as close as he dared.

Rin and Kenji barely had time to eat, they had so much to talk about. Miki smiled at her little brother and this sweet young woman. Taro rolled his eyes once then ignored them. Sesshomaru watched them like a hawk out of the corner of his eye and listened to every word.

Rin was right, he did need to get to know the boy. But unlike Rin he wouldn't be charmed. He was watching for clues as to the boy's true nature.


	13. Chapter 13

don't own it

Once lunch was over Kimi stated that she had to go back to the house to do some house work. She asked Sesshomaru whether he and Rin wanted to come with her or stay with her father. Sesshomaru decided to return to her house so that Rin would not be a distraction.

Once they reached the house Rin offered to help Miki with the house work. The girl gladly accepted And Sesshomaru ordered Jaken to help the girls. The two chatted and worked together while Jaken grumbled about doing women's work. Sesshomaru sat in a corner sipping on more tea.

After a few hours he got up and went out side to look around. Rin wouldn't leave the house while he was gone. The boys were still away so he didn't have to worry.

Shortly after Sesshomaru left Kimi dumped some dingy water outside and asked Jaken if her would be kind enough to get some more. The imp complied grudgingly, knowing that he would be in trouble if he was rude to Rin's new friend.

Kimi waited until she knew the imp was gone then turned to Rin. "You like my little brother, don't you?"

"How did you know?" Rin asked, blushing slightly.

"It was fairly obvious at the river earlier. He is quite smitten with you as well. In fact he has barely shut up about you for five minutes." She informed Rin as she started to cut some veggetables.

Rin grabbed a knife and started cutting some carrots. "Daddy doesn't like him."

"He's probably just scared. He doesn't know Kenji well so he is afraid Kenji might hurt you."

"I know." Rin replied.

"He is probably afraid of losing you to. Your an only child, right? Do you have a mother?"

"No. It's just me, Daddy, and Jaken. Always has been."

"So your all he has. He is probably afraid he'll be second best if you fall in love. That you won't be Daddy's little girl any more."

"Why would he think something like that?"

"Because he is a man. Men are extremely insecure. You have to reassure them all the time that you still love them. My father told me on my wedding day that he felt like he was losing his daughter. It just takes a while for them to come to terms with the fact that their daughters have grown up."

"So you think my Daddy will calm down and get to like Kenji?"

"With time. Just let him know you still love him." She told the younger woman then started chopping an herb. And put the rice on to boil. All the men should be home soon.

Sesshomaru noted the position of the sun and realized that the men would be returning soon. He turned on his heel and started back to the house. He was curious about this town. There were signs that it had once been much larger than it was now.

Houses stood abandoned here and there and small family garden plots were over grown and untended. And when he passed the grave yard he noticed many markers that looked fairly new. Something bad had happened here.

As he walked he saw Kenji, Makoto, and Taro ahead of him. They didn't see him. A few village girls approached the group and tried to flirt with the boys.

Makoto stopped to speak with two of them but Kenji and Taro kept walking. One of the girls moved to stand in front of Kenji, flirting shamelessly while placing a hand on his arm. Kenji gently removed her hand from his arm and told her firmly that he liked someone else and to quit coming on to him. The girl pouted but Kenji ignored her pouting and he and his father kept walking.

Sesshomaru started once more to walk toward the house only to be spotted by the girls who started screaming about a youkai. The two talking with Makoto quickly jumped to hide behind him. Kenji and Taro turned swiftly with hands on their swords then smiled to see it was just Sesshomaru.

"Be quite." Taro scolded the girls. "This is Sesshomaru-sama. He is a guest in my house and you will show him some respect."

"Oh! We're sorry sir, we didn't know."

"It is o.k. Why don't you three go to the fields and inform the men so that they will not panic like you just did if they happen to meet my guest while I am absent."

"Yes sir." They replied bowing low then scurried off to follow his directions.

"The fields are a good distance, I'll escort them." Makoto told his father. Though every one knew he just wanted to continue speaking with the girls. So he headed out to the field with them and Sesshomaru walked with Taro and Kenji back to the house.

"Um, Sesshomaru-sama, may I speak with you for a moment?" Kenji asked as they reached the house. Taro stopped with his hand on the door and turned to look at the boy, as did Sesshomaru. He knew his son had something to say but gave the boy a look that said 'be careful'. Then he went inside to give them some privacy.

Kenji looked at the ground and kicked nervously at a small pebble. He looked so very young at the moment. More like a nervous little boy than a man.

"Sesshomaru-sama, I was thinking about the last time we spoke. I just wanted to say I'm sorry about what ever mis understanding there might have been. I know you just want to protect Rin. She's your daughter so you have to protect her. It's better to be over protective than not protective enough.

"And you don't know me. I wish you would trust me but like I said you don't know me. So you can't be sure if my intentions are honorable or not. But I was thinking, if You plan on being in the area for a while, maybe we could spend some time together. Go hunting or training or what ever and get to know one another."

Kenji gave him such an imploring look. Sesshomaru nodded just ever so slightly. "Perhaps." He told the boy then entered the dwelling with Kenji at his heels.

Sesshomaru sat next to Rin and Kenji sat on her other side. A several minutes later Makoto and Shiro came through the door joking and carrying on. Shiro gave his wife a quick kiss in greeting and then she served dinner.

After that they stayed up talking for a while before everyone decided to turn in for the night. Kenji offered to sleep in Makoto's room so Rin and Sesshomaru could have his. Sesshomaru decided Rin alone would sleep in that room.

This was much nicer than sleeping in those taverns. The walls at least were more solid but with his sensitive hearing Sesshomaru could still hear everything that was happening in the house.

A few hours after every one else had gone to sleep he could hear Kenji tossing restlessly. Then he heard Kenji get up and leave the house. When the boy didn't return promptly he got up to go find him.

He followed the boy's scent to the cemetery. Kenji was sitting near on of the newer grave markers talking. He got close enough to hear the boy with out being seen.

"...I just wish you could have met her mother. She is sweet, smart, funny. She's just so perfect. You would have loved her. The only problem is her father hates me. At least right now he does. I hope he'll change his mind once he gets to know me, because I really want him to like me. I know Rin likes me but her father will always be more important. If it comes down to me or him she'll choose her father. Which is how it should be. But I just love her so much. I just don't know what to do mother."

'Maybe this boy is an honorable man.' Sesshomaru thought as he listened to the young warrior praise Rin to his mother's silent grave. After a while the boy got up to leave, promising his mother's grave that he would visit again soon.


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own this anime or the manga, kay? I just borrow the characters for my own purposes but i promise to return them when I'm done. I'll even get them dry cleaned first.

* * *

I have actually been wanting to finish this one for a week or two but wanted to wait for the damn site to quit glitching so I'd know you got the update notice.

* * *

Sesshomaru was awake the next morning when the family started to get up. Makoto was the first to rise. Kimi was next and started fixing breakfast and preparing a lunch for her husband to take to the fields. Kenji was the last one to wake. 

He was in fact still asleep when his father left the house to go meet with another Samurai for a few minutes. Taro told Makoto to make sure his little brother was up for breakfast.

"Yes Father." Makoto replied. He waited a few minutes for his father to leave then walked outside. He came back in with a bucket and whistled innocently as he walked back in to his room.

There was the sound of splashing water and a yell of surprise. A string of vulgar words soon followed and then the sounds of fighting could be heard. There was a loud crashing sound. After several minutes the boys both came out. Makoto's left eye was already beginning to swell and turn blue. Kenji was holding a cloth to his lip to staunch the bleeding.

Rin stared at the two with concern but Shiro and Kimi both just shook their heads and went about their morning routine. Taro returned just as Kimi was preparing to serve breakfast and looked at his two boys, shaking his head.

After breakfast Taro announced that he had pressing business to attend to and that the boys would not have to train today. Instead he expected them to entertain their guests. Provided they promised not to fight again today.

So after the dishes were cleaned and put away the boys decided to show Rin and Seshomaru around town. They were only a few yards away from the house when the three girls from yesterday approached.

"Lets try this way." Kenji replied trying to avoid the one he knew would flirt with him. Makoto agreed seeing as Rin was with them. It didn't work, the girls caught up with them.

"Hello Kenji." The flirty girl purred quickly moving the stand in front of him.

"Mornin'." He replied shortly, side stepping her.

"Now don't be like that Kenji!" She stated grabbing his arm and giving her sexiest pout.

"I said I'm not interested in you. Leave me alone!" He whispered, trying not to be heard as he yanked his arm away. But Rin, being the daughter of a inu youkai had learned to fine tune her own senses. She might not hear as well as her father, or any other youkai for that matter, but she over heard Kenji's statement.

Kenji sighed in frustration, now he'd have to introduce every one.

Before Kenji could make introductions though Rin stepped close to him and took his hand in hers. She placed her other hand on his arm. "Kenji, who's this?" She asked sweetly while glaring daggers at the other girl. She knew she had driven her point home when the other girl glared daggers back at her. Behind the flirty girl the other two exchanged a look.

Feeling Rin's touch Kenji jumped just slightly and glanced at Sesshomaru in panic. Sesshomaru's face was unreadable but Kenji got the feeling he was also shocked at Rin's bold actions. Seeing as Sesshomaru was staring at Rin and not watching him he smiled and allowed his fingers to curl around Rin's.

"Sesshomaru-sama, Rin, this is Umeko, Yoko, and Machiko. These are our guests Sesshomaru-sama and Rin. Oh, and their servant Jaken." Kenji added, not wanting to over look the little imp. Such a loyal servant deserved to at least be acknowledged.

"Now if you ladies don't mind, my brother and I are showing out guests around town." With that the whole group walked away from the girls. Though Makoto did take a moment to bid the girls farewell.

After showing their guests all the sites of the town they returned home. Rin immediately offered to help Kimi with her house work. And to Sesshomaru's surprise Kenji and Makoto offered to help with a task that required a bit of strength. Kenji explained that his sister was the only woman in the house, she could not be expected to do everything. And they prefer she not lift anything heavy in her current state if they were there.

The men in this family seemed to care deeply about the women, be they sister or mother. It stood to reason they'd be just as thoughtful of their wives. Sesshomaru pushed that thought from his mind.

After lunch Rin asked Sesshomaru if she and Kenji could go for a walk together. Sesshomaru regarded them both for a few minutes. He had sensed no dishonor in Kenji. And after hearing the boy at his mothers grave last night there could be no doubt that he had respect for her. But still he was a teenage boy. Teenagers do stupid things when no parents are around.

"Please Daddy?" Rin asked with those huge puppy eyes. "I promise we won't go far."

Sesshomaru almost sighed in defeat as he replied, "Take Jaken with you and do not leave the village."

"Thank you Daddy." Rin replied then gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Your the best Daddy." Then she left with Kenji and a grumbling Jaken following close behind.

After several minutes Jaken's grumbling got on Kenji's nerves. He stopped and turned around to face Jaken. "It seems to me that you should be honored." Kenji told the imp, dropping to one knee to speak to him face to face.

"Honored?" Jaken asked loudly. "What is so honorable about baby sitting a human girl."

"Well, Sesshomau-sama doesn't consider her human. He considers her his own daughter. She is probably the most precious thing in his world. And he trusts you above all others to protect her. Of all the people he could chose you are the only one he trusts enough to watch after his most precious treasure."

That shut him up! Jaken just stared at Kenji for a moment. Then he puffed up with pride and his eyes welled with tears of joy. Kenji gave the toad just the slightest bow, which made Jaken feel even prouder. Then he turned and took Rin's hand as they all just walked aimlessly through town.

Jaken was still in a pretty good mood when they started back towards Kenji's house. Rin was to say the least shocked at this.

Kenji laughed. "Well I don't know how things work in youkai politics but I do understand how the human world works. And even some one as powerful as the emperor only has power because the people below him are willing to serve him. To have power a man must have followers who are willing to work his fields and fight in his armies.

"If a man is cruel to his people eventually they rise up and over throw him. But if he acknowledges that his strength come from them, and treats them with a little respect, they work and fight harder for him. Father taught me that."

Jaken's little beak fell open as he listened to Kenji and Rin. Once the two teens had returned Sesshomaru called Jaken to follow him outside.

"What are your impressions of the boy?" He asked once they were out of earshot. Jaken explained that the boy seemed wise for a human child then repeated what he had heard the boy tell Rin. Sesshomaru listened silently, his face as unreadable as ever. Once Jaken had given a full report they returned.

A few minutes later Taro returned home. After making sure his guests had indeed been well cared for he challenged the inu youkai to a game of go. The dog lord was completely and utterly defeated by the mortal human in this game of wits and strategy.


	15. Chapter 15

My car... Some tea bags... A T.V... A half eaten box of pocky that's full of sugar ants. Maybe I should throw that away. Ok, I just inventoried all my personal possessions, Inuyasha is not among them.

* * *

After dinner Sesshomaru announce that he and his pack should be moving along and they would depart from the village in the morning. 

"Can't we stay just a little longer?" Rin asked giving him those puppy eyes of hers.

"No Rin," He replied, not looking at her. "We will not impose any longer."

"We have enjoyed being your hosts." Taro told the inu youkai. "But if you feel you must leave then I hope you will come and visit us again. I know Kimi has greatly enjoyed the presence of another woman in the house."

Sesshomaru looked at Taro and nodded. Then he looked straight at Rin. "If I do not have difficulty leaving in the morning I might consider your offer to visit again." Rin immediately quit her pouting, not wanting to jeopardize the opportunity to spend more time with this family.

After several minutes Kenji stood and left the house, sitting by himself right outside the door. A few minutes later Rin joined him. Sesshomaru could hear the two talking so he let them be for now. As long as he could always tell where they were he'd not worry to much. It was when they quit speaking that he decided to take a short walk. When he stepped out he saw Rin leaning against Kenji, who had his arm around her shoulders. She sat straight up and Kenji dropped him arm.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at Kenji in warning then walked away into the night. Once he knew he was concealed he turned to watch them. He saw Rin once again lean against the boy. Kenji seemed to hesitate, then he placed his arm around her again.

When he had seen them he of course figured the boy had made the move to hold Rin. But she had definately initiated that contact. His sweet, innocent child had been the one to press herself to the boy. She was just a girl. And yet he knew that was how a woman in love would act. He turned and walked away. He needed some time to think.

When he returned he noticed the house was completely dark. He knew everyone had retired to bed. But then he saw Kenji leave the house with a lantern. He followed the boy silently to cemetery. Kenji bowed to the grave Sesshomaru knew to be his mother's. Then he just stood there silently. Sesshomaru approached wondering how long it would take for Kenji to detect his presence.

Turns out it didn't take long at all for the young boy to realize the youkai lord was there. But then the boy had been trained as a warrior. He was a little more alert to his surroundings than most humans. The boy turned to look at him.

"Sesshomaru-sama? What are you doing here?"

"One could ask you the same thing. Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Yeah. I tried. Some times I just have trouble falling asleep."

"So you come to speak to your mother's grave." Sesshomaru let his gaze drift to the grave marker.

"Yeah, most of the time. Sometimes I talk to my sisters instead." Kenji replied Walking over to two smaller grave markers. The smaller of the two was slightly older.

"All in all there were five of us. But some of the families only acknowledge father as having four children."

"Because you are in truth his nephew?"

"He raised me as his son. Every one in town knows that. But my youngest sister, Ayame, never breathed so some people refuse to acknowledge that she ever lived. I know better. Mother let me feel the baby kick a few times. But her cord got wrapped around her neck at birth."

Kenji knelt in front of the other grave marker and brushed a fallen leaf from it. "Rei died the same time mother did. They both got sick."

"Many of these markers seem to be fairly new." Sesshomaru observed looking around.

"Yeah. It was only two years ago. It was a bad time. Nearly everyone got sick. We were lucky, some people lost their entire families." The boy trailed off, lost in his own sad thoughts as they stood staring at the stone markers.

"You said earlier that you wish for us to spend time together." He reminded the boy to break the silence. Kenji snapped back to reality and turned to respond only to see that Sesshomaru was already walking away. He quickly moved to catch up with the demon.

"The first thing I need to know is what are your intentions?"

"Intentions sir?"

"For my daughter."

"Oh, I never really thought about that before. I just really like spending time with her sir. She is really a great woman."

"She is a girl. And she is a good girl. I would kill any man who dared to dishonor her." Sesshomaru replied. He stopped to look the boy in the eye to make a point.

"I would never dishonor her sir." The boy replied meeting his gaze. They continued to talk for the next hour or so until Sesshomaru recommended Kenji try to sleep again. This time the boy succeeded. Sesshomaru fond that he felt a little more respect for the boy now.

The next day they said their good byes right after breakfast. After Rin said goodbye to Taro, Makoto, and Kimi Sesshomaru also said farewell. Then realized Rin was not right behind him. He could hear her around the side of the house saying good bye to Kenji. He went to tell her it was time to go.

He saw them locked in an embrace. Rin had her eyes closed and her head leaning against Kenji's chest. Kenji also had his eyes closed and was leaning his cheek against the top of her head telling her how much he was going to miss talking to her. Before he could say anything to alert them to his presence Rin lifted her head and kissed Kenji.

"Rin!" The youkai called. Both teens jumped and pulled away from one another. He could see in her eyes her pleading for him not to hurt them boy. But he had seen what happened. It was not the boy who had kissed her but the other way around. And to his great shock he wasn't even sure how angry he should be with her.

"It's time to go." He simply stated turning to walk away and hearing her follow obediently. As they were leaving Rin paused a couple of times to look back and wave to her friends then had walk faster to catch up while Jaken scolded her for dawdling.

Near sundown Sesshomaru told Jaken to take Ah 'Un and scout ahead for a decent camp site as he slowed his pace to walk beside Rin. Jaken bowed and pulled on the beasts reigns. Ah 'Un nuzzled Rin's cheeks as it passed then began to move faster so that the little imp was dragged a few yards before losing his grip and having to run after them. The beast made a sound that Sesshomaru often thought sounded almost like a laugh.

"Rin, I have seen how you have been behaving over the past few days." Sesshomaru told the girl once Jaken was out of ear shot.

"Kenji didn't do anything! And we weren't doing anything bad! Honest! It was only a kiss!" The girl stated hastily.

Sesshomaru held up his hand for silence and turned to her. "Rin, you are almost a woman. I am aware of this. But you are still very young and more naive than you realize. A single kiss can lead to much more. You need to be careful what your actions tell young men. Some men will respond to your actions and ignore your words... Even if you say no they might..." He found himself unable to say more. He took a deep breath. "Just be careful how you act."

"Kenji would never do that."

Sesshomaru merely nodded and started walking again. Then he felt a tiny hand close around his own. "You know Daddy, I'll always love you more than any one else. Even more than Kenji. But I can love you both at the same time."

Sesshomaru stopped short so that Rin almost walked past him and stared at the girl. His mind was trying to process what she'd said when she noticed and stopped to look at him inquistively. How on Earth had she figured out what he was so afraid of when he himself hadn't even realized it. After a moment he nodded and continued walking. Rin continued to walk quickly enough to hold his hand.


	16. Chapter 16

This is just for fun. I do not own Inuyasha and am making no profit from this or from selling counterfeit Fluffy plushies out of the trunk of my car. And don't you just love kenji? He has such a cute personality, don't you agree?

* * *

Sesshomaru sat against a large tree enjoying silence and solitude for a while. He loved Rin with all his youkai heart and was glad for Jaken's company, though he'd never admit it. But some times he just needed to be alone for a while. 

Mean while Rin was laying on her back in the long grass staring absent minded at the clouds floating over head and humming to herself. She thought she heard horses and low voices so she sat up to see where they were coming from. She saw an army of samurai, bloodied and battle weary, heading right in her direction.

The captain of the samurai pulled his horse to a stop a few feet in front of Rin. "Young lady, I do not see any cooking fires. Where is you village? A delicate little thing such as yourself should not be alone so far from the safety of her people."

"Oh, it's o.k. I'm not alone. My Daddy isn't far and besides he left Jaken to watch me. Look, there he is." She pointed to the Staff Of Two Heads bobbing up and down in the grass toward them. The words invisible and demon were whispered amongst the warriors, some of whom had drawn the weapons and watched the staff apprehensively.

Rin giggled. "He's not invisible, just short."

Just as she said so the tiny green kappa burst from the tall grass between Rin and the samurai. "Humans be gone or face the wrath of the Staff Of Two Heads!"

"A demon! Do not fear young maiden!" The captain shouted pulling a sword. Rin quickly grabbed Jaken by the shoulders and pulled him back out of harms way.

"No, he is a friendly demon. This is Jaken, my guardian while Daddy is gone."

"Your father left you, a beautiful young virgin, in the charge of a demon? Is he mad?"

"No. We trust Jaken. He has served Daddy loyally even longer than I've been alive."

Then a two headed dragon lumbered out of the tree line. Instead of hiding behind her guardian she giggled and ran up to it. "Where have you been hiding? Did you find an apple tree or something?" She asked kissing it on one muzzle then scratching the ears of the other head.

The samurai watch slack jawed. "What is she that she commands the obediance of demons and dragons?" One whispered.

She then released it to graze on the soft green grass while she went back to where Jaken and the samurai stood. Jaken was eying the leader like a dangerous animal.

Suddenly one of the samurai grabbed her up off the ground from behind and held her around the shoulders with a knife to her neck. Jaken and Ah 'Un Both ran at him threateningly but could not attack for risk of hitting her too.

"Kioshi, What the devil do you think you're doing, release that girl at once." The captain yelled once more drawing his sword.

"No way. This kid has to be a demon's daughter. And if I hold her captive he'll have to grant me wishes to get her back!"

"Are you insane? The only thing her father will do for you is remove your head! Now release her at once!"

"No way! I'm getting my wishes. And the first thing I'll do is get your job! I'm sick of you bossing us around. It's my turn to have the power."

Then the insane samurai screamed and dropped Rin as he grabbed his arm. As Rin jumped to her feet she was holding one of her daggers which was coated in red. The warrior had a deep long gash sliced into his arm. He yelled in anger and drew his sword, holding it high over his head preparing to cut her down.

"Rin! Get out of the way! Staff of Two..."

Before he could speak another word an arrow pierced the warriors neck, in the gap where there was no armor. He dropped his sword and slumped forward then fell off his horse. They turned to see three samurai riding fast toward them, Makoto holding his bow in his hand.

"Rin, are you ok?" Kenji asked pulling Hannako to a stop and dismounting. In his hasted he didn't kick one of his feet completely from the stirrup causing him to trip and fall. Hannako spooked a little and pulled her head up but did not rear or bolt which could have injured her rider. She stood almost perfectly still while Kenji disentangled his foot.

Once free he ran up and pulled Rin into a hug while Taro rode up to the commander of the army. "What is going on here?" Taro demanded.

While the captain explained exactly what had happened Rin let got of Kenji and knelt in front of Jaken, getting down to his level like one would a child. "I'm Sorry I caused you such a scare Jaken." She told the little demon

"I wasn't worried about you silly girl. Only what Sesshomaru would do if anythig happened to you!" He crossed his arms and looked away.

Rin giggled. " know that's a lie but I'll forgive you." She grabbed him up into a tight hug, which he struggled against, and kissed him on the forehead.

"Let me go, get off me Rin."

"Not until you say please." She taunted.

At that moment a figure in white and crimson landed in the field. Several horses spooked and their riders had a hard time calming them. One threw his riders and ran into the nearby trees with the samurai chasing after it.

"Rin, are you hurt?" He had heard her scream.

"No Daddy."

"Quit teasing Jaken." Rin nodded and set the struggling imp down. While Sesshomaru turned to the captain and Taro to find out what happened Rin hugged Kenji again and whispered how much she'd missed him. He whispered that he had missed her too while he held her close.

Sesshomaru watched out of the corner of his eye. He let them be as long as he could stand then excused himself from his conversation with the men. He grabbed Kenji by the back of his yukata and dragged him back three feet from Rin. "That is quite enough." He told the boy then returned to the conversation.

Once everything had been explained Sesshomaru left the samurai to do what they would with the fallen body. After much pleading from Rin both groups decided to travel together for a while. Though Sesshomaru was secretly glad to have another high ranking adult around. Even if Taro was a human. Which for some reason didn't bug him as much as it would have, say, 7 years ago.

Later that night all the humans made camp and ate. While they did so Sesshomaru decided to spend some time by himself. He left Jaken with orders not to let Rin out of his sight.

Kenji and Rin sat apart from everyone else speaking softly and laughing. Kenji saw Sesshomaru get up and watched while he left. Then looked over at his brother and father, seeing that they were paying no attention to him and Rin. Rin noticed that he seemed a bit nervous.

"Kenji? What's wrong?" Rin asked leaning toward him concerned.

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking, there is something I want to ask your father. Never mind. He hasn't known me long enough to answer it anyway. "

"What did you want to ask him?" She asked softly.

Kenji looked down at his hands as he spoke. "Well. I wanted to ask him... not right now, it has to be at the right moment. But I was thinking, that if you don't mind, I could maybe ask your father for your hand."

Rin stared at him for a moment. It took a moment for her to figure out what he meant. Then she smiled and threw her arms around him so fast that they both lost their balance and toppled over.

"What are you two kids doing?" Taro called.

"Nothing." Rin and Kenji called in unison, sitting back up. Taro and Makoto exchanged a look Then Makoto shrugged while Taro shook his head in Bewilderment.

Kenji smiled and hugged Rin tightly. "Of course," he seemed a little nervous again. "the problem is your father. We need his blessing."

"No we don't. If he says no, well then, we'll... We'll elope. We will go away and marry in secret." She whispered.

Kenji nodded. "But I'd rather have your father's blessing. We shouldn't have to get married in secret like it's something wrong. We should have all our friends and family with us. I just need to wait for the perfect moment to ask your father."


End file.
